Welcome to NARUC Rate School!

Course Overview

Program Level: NARUC Rate School is a hands-on, comprehensive course teaching students the fundamentals of utility accounting and rate making by working on a “mock” utility rate case.

At the end of this course, the learner will be able to:

1. Understand the basics of utility rate setting.
2. Understand Financial Statements for regulated utility companies.
3. Have the knowledge, skills, and tools that guide regulated utility rate making including choosing the test year for the revenue requirement.
4. Gain an understanding of how rate base is developed.
5. Understand how a mock rate case is developed and the use of sample adjustments.
6. Calculate the rate base, revenue requirement, and learn rate design for a regulated utility.
7. Demonstrate an appropriate knowledge of operating expenses, trackers, depreciation and taxes related to regulated utility rate making.
8. Understand how to review and make adjustments to utility Income Statements.
9. Understand the capital structure of a utility, including the weighted average cost of capital, rate of return, and return on equity.
10. Understand how cost of capital, rate of return and return on equity relate to the revenue requirement and how Wall Street views a company.  
11. Understand the consumer perspective on the regulated utility finance.
12. Understand Cost Allocation methods.
13. Understand the different rate designs for the regulated utility.
14. Learn the Performance Based Ratemaking.

Who Should Attend Rate School?

State Commissioners, Policymakers, Municipal Utility Officials, Commission staffers, Administrative Law Judges, Accountants, Auditors, Financial Analysts, Consumer Advocates, Attorneys, Engineers, Economists, Journalists, Wall Street Analysts or anyone with a need or interest in utility rate making will benefit from this unique program.

The course material for the Spring and Fall Rate Schools are the same.

About Rate School

The NARUC Committee on Water was the original architect of the NARUC Rate School, which was launched in Florida in 1973. The Fall (October) Rate School was held at various locations in Florida and is held in Clearwater Beach, FL. The Spring Rate School began in 1980 in Utah and moved to various locations and is held in San Diego, CA. The mock rate case, agenda and all course materials are currently developed by a core group of dedicated Rate School instructors and coaches. 

The NARUC Rate School evolved from the theory that many individuals learn better by performing tasks rather than passively listening to lectures. By actually working on a mock rate case, after detailed learning and discussions on a host of issues, the founders believed a more efficient learning environment would result. From the beginning the philosophy of the schools has been that participants in the rate/regulatory process would get more benefit from differing perspectives on accounting, engineering, legal, and governmental actions, as well as from consumer advocates, commission staffs, and utility company employees. There are limited opportunities to obtain these diverse perspectives.

The number of students permitted to participate in Rate School is limited to allow for personalized attention from the elite volunteer faculty by working with small teams resulting in a meaningful learning experience.

Students are encouraged to consider NARUC Professional Development live online training courses from the Accounting & Rate Case Track for additional education. 

Still have questions and don't see the answer on this website?

Feel free to email rateschool@naruc.org